World at Risk - Year 12 Edexcel Geography

Richard A. Lovett A newly discovered asteroid called 2012 DA14 will pass so close to Earth in February that it might hit a communications satellite, scientists say. "That's very unlikely, but we can't rule it out," said Paul Chodas, a planetary astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

Richard A. Lovett A newly discovered asteroid called 2012 DA14 will pass so close to Earth in February that it might hit a communications satellite, scientists say. "That's very unlikely, but we can't rule it out," said Paul Chodas, a planetary astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

The US space agency Nasa is set to test a real-time network of GPS sensors that it hopes will lead to faster, more accurate earthquake analysis. Nearly 500 sensors in the Pacific-coast states of California, Oregon and Washington will be put to use.

Monitoring stations in the Arctic detect record levels of carbon dioxide, higher than ever above 'safe' 350ppm mark The world's air has reached what scientists call a troubling new milestone for carbon dioxide, the main global warming pollutant. Monitoring stations across the Arctic this spring are measuring more than 400 parts per million of the heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere.

A scientific conundrum that has puzzled climate experts for years may have been solved with the publication of research showing how an increase in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere contributed to rising temperatures millions of years ago.

Leading energy ministers have been told the world is on track for a long-term temperature increase of 6C unless they change their priorities. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on current trends, emissions would double from 2009 to 2050. The deputy director of the IEA, Richard Jones, urged ministers: "Please take our warning seriously."

Europe's Cryosat mission is now watching the ebb and flow of Arctic sea ice with high precision. The radar spacecraft was launched in 2010 to monitor changes in the thickness and shape of polar ice. Scientists have spent the past two years getting to grips with its data.

Kenya plagued by extreme rain events, storms and rising temperatures Dozens of people have lost their lives, and at least 100,000 others have been affected by torrential rains, which have triggered widespread flooding, strong winds and rising temperatures across Kenya. Floods have destroyed homes and infrastructure, washed away crops and drowned livestock.

Floods ravage tourist resort town of Pokhara, Nepal, sweeping away dozens of people Large masses of snow and ice slid down the Annapurna Mountain range blocking the Seti River in Kaski district, triggering extensive flooding south of mountain, and leaving scores of people dead or missing.

After cooling the eastern tropical Pacific for the second winter in a row-and teaming with other large-scale weather patterns to wreak havoc on North American winter-La Niña ended in April 2012. Researchers from the Climate Prediction Center of the U.S.

Devastating cyclones, floods, erosion and ruined crops have made Bangladeshis 'the most aware society on climate change in the world'

Grain crops in Spain are suffering after an unusually dry autumn and winter. The amount of rainfall has been just half of normal in key grain producing regions. The top image shows the impact of the drought on plants throughout the country.

Opponents of geoengineering will no doubt seize upon this week's cancellation of the fieldwork element of the Spice project as a significant victory in their campaign to outlaw research in this area. There are important lessons to draw from the problems encountered by the project, which planned to investigate the feasibility of spraying particles into the stratosphere to mitigate global warming.

The last 60 years have been the hottest in Australasia for a millennium and cannot be explained by natural causes, according to a new report by scientists that supports the case for a reduction in manmade carbon emissions.In the first major study of its kind in the region, scientists at

The latest device to harness the power of the tides is being tested in the stormy waters off Orkney in the far north of Scotland.

A controversial geoengineering experiment to simulate the cooling effect of volcanoes has been cancelled due to concern over a perceived conflict of interest with some of the researchers. The experiment would have injected 150 litres of water into the atmosphere from a weather balloon via a 1km pipe tethered to a ship as part of the Spice project (Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering).

Melting Arctic permafrost could put even more methane - a potent greenhouse gas - into the atmosphere than previously thought, with worrying implications for the pace of global warming. Many ice sheets that sit like caps over rock crevices trap natural seeps of methane; when they melt, the gas can quickly be released into the atmosphere in "burps".

The Antarctic Ocean Alliance is urging the UK government to protect one of the last true frontier areas before it is damaged irreparably by human interference

Christian Aid highlights the plight of the millions of Bangladeshis forced to live along constantly changing river systems on World Environment Day